s 2A Meanings of “online communication service” and associated terms
2A.—(1) In this Act, an online communication service means an electronic service that is, or a part of an electronic service having the characteristics that are, specified in the Fourth Schedule. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an electronic service means a service —(a) that —(i) enables end-users to access or communicate content on the Internet using that service, including a point-to-multipoint service; or (ii) delivers content on the Internet to persons having equipment appropriate for receiving that content, where the delivery of the service is by a service described in sub-paragraph (i); (b) that is a service —(i) between a point in Singapore and one or more other points in Singapore; or (ii) between a point and one or more other points, where the firstmentioned point is outside Singapore and at least one of the other points is inside Singapore; and (c) that is not an excluded electronic service. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(c), an excluded electronic service means —(a) an SMS service; (b) an MMS service; (c) an internet access service; (d) an electronic service where the only user-generated content enabled by that service is one-to-one live aural communications; (e) an electronic service where the only user-generated content enabled by that service is communication between 2 or more end-users that is of a private or domestic nature; (f) an electronic service where the user-generated content enabled by that service is accessible substantially or only to a closed group of end-users employed or engaged in a business (whether or not carried on for profit) and solely for their use as a tool in the conduct of that business; or (g) an electronic service that is prescribed by the Minister, by order in the Gazette, to be an excluded electronic service, after taking into account the functionalities of the service or the user-generated content enabled by that service or both. (4) References in this Act to an online communication service include such a service provided from outside Singapore as well as such a service provided in or from Singapore. (5) In this section —“functionality”, in relation to an electronic service, includes —(a) any feature that enables interactions of any description between end-users of the service; and (b) any feature that enables end-users to search online locations or databases, index search results or otherwise retrieve content from the search results; “MMS” means an electronic service that enables only the transmission of multimedia messages (such as visual or voice communication) from an end-user on a mobile telephone to another mobile telephone through a telecommunication service; “MMS message” means a message (whether or not accompanied by any sound or images) sent using an MMS; “one-to-one live aural communications”, in relation to an electronic service, means content —(a) consisting of speech or other sounds conveyed in real time between 2 end-users of the service by means of the service; (b) that is not a recording; and (c) that is not accompanied by user-generated content of any other description, except identifying content; “point-to-multipoint service” means an electronic service which allows an end-user to communicate content to more than one end-user simultaneously; “SMS” means an electronic service that only enables the transmission of short text messages from an end-user on a mobile telephone to another mobile telephone through a telecommunication service; “SMS message” means a text message sent using an SMS; “user-generated content”, in relation to an electronic service, means content —(a) that is —(i) generated directly on the service by an end-user of the service; or (ii) communicated by posting or sharing on the service by an end-user of the service; and (b) that may be accessed by another end-user of that service, or other users, of the service by means of that service.[Act 38 of 2022 wef 01/02/2023]